Dr. Salomon Melgen - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

Posted on January 20, 2018 January 19, 2018

U.S. Department of Justice intends to retry Sen. Robert Menendez’s bribery case

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file photo by Boyd Loving

January 20,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Newark NJ, the U.S. Department of Justice says that it intends to retry Sen. Robert Menendez’s bribery case, which previously ended with a hung jury.

In a letter the DOJ wrote to the U.S. District Court of New Jersey, “The United States files this notice of intent to retry the defendants [Menendez and Dr. Salomon Melgen] and requests that the court set the case for retrial at the earliest possible date.”

Both Menendez and Melgen, a longtime friend of the senator, were on trial last year after being accused of running a bribery scheme between 2006 and 2013 in which Menendez allegedly lobbied government officials on Melgen’s behalf in exchange for luxury vacations and flights on Melgen’s private plane.

Menendez also was charged with making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms.

At that time jurors were unable to come to a unanimous verdict after about a week of deliberations.The judge then declared a mistrial.

Both men have denied any wrongdoing.

Posted on September 26, 2017 September 26, 2017

Menendez Pal tried to Intimidate Government Officials with Political Connections According to Testimony

file photo by Boyd Loving

September 26,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, in explosive testimony in the Senator Menendez Corruption trial , wealthy eye-doctor pal of Sen. Robert Menendez threatened to “make trouble” for the US Commerce Department through his “politically influential friends” if he did not get help with a troubled business project, it emerged at his bribery trial on Monday.

According to Commerce staffer Sam Smith a witness in the trial Dr. Salomon Melgen who is on trial for bribery alongside Menendez in Newark federal court made the threatening comments through a lawyer at a 2012 meeting. The lawyer set up the meeting to pressure Commerce Dept. officials to help Melgen with a costly contract dispute, Smith said.

“He was very aggressive and threatening and constantly brought up the fact that he could make trouble for the department and he could be a bull in the Commerce Dept.’s china shop,” Smith told jurors about the meeting with Melgen’s lawyer, Elio Muller.

“He stated that Dr. Melgen had politically influential friends and they could cause a lot of problems for Commerce Dept. if Dr. Melgen didn’t think he was being served well,” Smith added.

When asked who Muller was referring to when he spoke of Melgen’s “politically influential friends,” Smith didn’t hesitate to say Menendez, a senior Democratic senator from NJ who stands accused of accepting bribes from Melgen in exchange for official favors.

Posted on September 19, 2017 September 19, 2017

Corruption Trial Witness Say Democrat Senator Menendez Lived large Dominican Republic

file photo by Boyd Loving

September 19,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to a resort executive Andres Pichardo Rosenberg , Democrat Senator Menendez’s stays at the luxurious Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic gave him access to white-sand beaches, a marina filled with expensive yachts and five golf courses. The seven-acre gated community on the Caribbean also boasts the top-rated golf course in the Dominican Republic, six international restaurants, a security staff of 800, and access to elite sports like pheasant shooting. Pheasant shooting in Dominican Republic you ask, yes according to testimony eggs are imported and the birds are bred for sport .

Opthalmologist , Dr. Salomon Melgen, who owns a home that the Senator stayed in Casa de Campo. has denied that the home was a bribe, describing it as a modest getaway for the doctor and his close friends and family. Rosenberg stated that there are 1,850 private houses on the resort some costing over $10 million. Rosenberg estimated that homes in Melgen’s neighborhood are worth up to $2.5 million.

NJ Senator Menendez, 63, is accused of accepting lavish gifts from Melgen, including stays at the villa and flights on private jets, in exchange for helping the married eye doctor obtaining visas for his three foreign girlfriends and straightening out an $8.9 million tab for overbilling Medicare.

Recent testimony suggests that Menendez lived the life in Dominican Republic , also staying at the exclusive $765 per night Tortuga Bay Hotel and Punta Cana Resort & Club where Melgen shelled out another $766 for other amenities, including golf, bars and restaurants. Mind you this Dominican Republic where the GDP per Capita $6,733 per year

Melgen also footed the bill of $875 per hour for an 8 hour pick up in a chauffeured car for Menendez in Hoboken ,credit car receipts confirm that Menendez was brought to an upscale Chinese restaurant where Melgen was waiting for both him and the vehicle.

Testimony also revealed that Immediately after the FBI raided Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen’s West Palm Beach offices, Melgen’s son-in-law contacted the Federal Aviation Administration to block the public from tracking his private jet. Melgen’s private jet had been used several times to fly Menendez between New Jersey and Melgen’s vacation home in the Dominican Republic ,these flights prosecutors charge were bribes Melgen paid Menendez in exchange for official favors.

Posted on September 12, 2017 September 12, 2017

Getting these beauties visas was high on Menendez’s to-do list: aide

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By Kaja Whitehouse

NEWARK, N.J. — Things to do for a busy US senator: “Cuba policy,” “Afghanistan” — getting a visa for a married pal’s Dominican bombshell girlfriend and her sister.

No way Menendez had enough reward points to pay for pricey Paris hotel: prosecutors

NEWARK, NJ — It would have taken 30 years for…
An ex-aide to Robert Menendez told Newark federal jurors Monday that the senator ordered him to call a US ambassador “asap” on behalf of Rosiell Polanco, a 22-year-old stunner who needed a tourist visa to visit the senator’s wealthy West Palm Beach friend for the Christmas holiday.

“Call Ambassador asap,” Menendez told Mark Lopes, his former senior policy advisor, in a Nov. 2008 email that was shown to jurors.

Menendez and Dr. Salomon Melgen, 63, are on trial on charges that the senator did official favors for the ophthalmologist in exchange for lavish gifts, including all-expense-paid vacations and $750,000 in campaign contributions.

In exchange, Menendez advocated for his married pal’s professional and personal affairs, including help securing visas for three of his foreign flings, prosecutors have said.

https://nypost.com/2017/09/11/menendez-demaned-aide-get-visa-for-rich-docs-gal-pal-emails/

Posted on August 31, 2017 August 31, 2017

Federal Prosecutors Allege Menendez Took Bribes Since 2006

file photo by Boyd Loving

August 31,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, according to federal prosecutors and court documents filed, Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez allegedly starting taking bribes from a wealthy donor Salomon Melgen shortly after he entered the Senate in 2006!

“The Government’s evidence at trial will demonstrate that, over time, the defendants’ bribery scheme grew in magnitude and breadth. The jury will hear testimony from a variety of individuals who witnessed the scheme unfold, including guests and pilots who were present for the lavish vacations Melgen furnished for Menendez, public officials that Menendez pressured on Melgen’s behalf, and Menendez staffers who helped carry out Menendez’s advocacy. In addition, the jury will see evidence of the defendants’ corrupt bargain in scores of contemporaneous communications between the defendants, their agents, and the officials they endeavored to influence, as well as records spanning everything from flight manifests and hotel bills to credit ”

Menendez’s bribery and corruption trial is set to begin next week. Justice Department prosecutors filed a new document Wednesday laying out their case against the New Jersey senator, as well as Dr. Salomon Melgen, his alleged co-conspirator. Melgen has already been convicted in a separate case of bilking Medicare but has not been sentenced yet.

Posted on April 29, 2017 April 28, 2017

Key figure in Menendez corruption case convicted of fraud

file photo by Boyd Loving

By JOHN BRESNAHAN and JOSH GERSTEIN

04/28/17 04:02 PM EDT

Dr. Salomon Melgen, a key figure in the bribery and corruption case against Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, was convicted on Friday of improperly billing the federal government for more than $100 million in medical insurance payments.

After three days of deliberations, a jury in West Palm Beach, Fla. delivered 67 guilty verdicts against Melgen on charges that he submitted claims to Medicare for eye procedures and tests that were either unnecessary or never performed.

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/28/key-figure-in-menendez-corruption-case-convicted-237765

Posted on April 21, 2015 April 21, 2015

Menendez ,Melgen :It was a bro-mance, not corruption

Carl Hiaasen: It was a bro-mance, not corruption

BY CARL HIAASEN

Miami HeraldApril 20, 2015

Sen. Robert Menendez says he’s angry because federal prosecutors “don’t know the difference between friendship and corruption.”

The New Jersey Democrat is upset about being indicted on fraud and bribery charges for allegedly using his political clout to benefit his longtime pal, Dr. Salomon Melgen of West Palm Beach, Fla.

Melgen was also charged in the bribery case, and has separately been indicted for epic Medicare fraud. Like Menendez, Melgen says he has committed no crimes.

Except for the super-sized favors they did for each other, the friendship between the powerful U.S. senator and the multimillionaire eye surgeon really isn’t so different from any ordinary bro-romance.

If your best buddy needed a few bucks, you’d be there for him, right?

When Menendez last ran for re-election, Melgen donated $700,000 to a political action committee that gave $582,000 to the senator’s campaign – a heartfelt gesture with absolutely no strings attached, according to the doctor and the senator.

And when the government forced Melgen to return almost $9 million that he’d overbilled Medicare for eye procedures, it was nothing but personal devotion that motivated Menendez to start sending emails and making calls, trying to get the money back for his favorite ophthalmologist.